A list of newcomers that made an impact on Bollywood in 2017

Here are a few newcomers who have contributed to the Bollywood industry. wikimedia commons

Here are a few newcomers who made an impact this year

Mumbai, Dec 26, 2017: The year just-ending was not great for new talent. Unless we look at Mahira Khan as new talent. And that would be as calamitous as giving Diljit Dosanjh the best debutants award in 2016 for “Udta Punjab”.

So, who were the newcomers to really make an impact this year?

* Martin Rey Tangu: Salman Khan’s 10-year-old co-star in Kabir Khan’s “Tubelight” absolutely stole the show from the superstar. Natural and unspoilt, Martin would have been the perfect fit for Salman’s role.

* Sajal Ali in “Mom”: Three Pakistani actresses made an impressive Bollywood debut in 2017. While it would be unfair to describe the seasoned Mahira Khan and Saba Qamar as debutantes in “Raees” and “Hindi Medium” respectively, Sajal Ali playing the great Sridevi’s traumatized daughter was a relative newcomer on both sides of the border. This year, we needed new talent to come in from other parts of the world. That’s show short-staffed our cinema was in 2017.

* Ashish Bisht in “Shab”: Playing Raveena Tandon’s toyboy in Onir’s study of love, sex and heartbreak, Bisht brought in a sense of innocence and desperation to his role. There is hope here.

* Plabita Borthakur in “Lipstick Under My Burkha”: She threw off the burqa to indulge in a spot of shoplifting in this overrated film. God knows what the director was trying to probe. But young Plabita proved a point. One can make an impact in a film that wears the burqa just to throw it off as a fashion statement.

* Khushmeet Gill in “Sniff”: As the young Sardarji from Amole Gupte’s film whose sense of smell is gone, Khushmeet was a natural born scene-stealer. He made a good enough impact. Strangely, it was the kids who made all the impact during the year starved of new talent.

* Aadar Jain in “Qaidi Band”: Easily and hands-down the best male discovery of 2016, Aadar who belongs to the illustrious Raj Kapoor’s ‘khandaan’, played the wrongly convicted jailbird with tremendous empathy warmth and feeling. A pity this film sank without a trace. Aadar deserves a second chance.

* Anya Singh in “Qaidi Band”: She had one breakdown sequence in the courtroom where Anya proved she had the potential to be the new-age Jaya Bhaduri. Producers starved of leading ladies, please take note.

* Svar Kamble in “Chef”: The third debutant child actor of the year to make an impact. Playing Saif Ali Khan’s son, this young performer revealed rare intelligence in handling complex scenes.

* Barun Sobti in “Tu Hai Mera Sunday”: The TV actor made a telling impact in a role of a do-gooder who is unable to do good for himself. Strangely, this superb film and its capable performers made no impact at the box-office.

* Parvathy in “Qarib Qarib Singlle”: By far the most accomplished Bollywood debutante of the year. But then Parvathy was not new to excellence, having proved her mettle in Malayalam movies. Nonetheless, during a year when new talent was scarce and scarily scant, we welcomed this spontaneous performer with open arms.

Let’s hope 2018 would give us more Parvathis and less Mustafas.

We mention Mustafa because the son of director Abbas Burmwalla gave nepotism a bad name with his disastrous debut in a film aptly called “Machine”. Mustafa seemed as robotic as a time machine that had lost its timer. (IANS)

Actress-environmentalist Dia Mirza feels an imperative need for actors to maintain an equipoise in their overall conduct. Pixabay

Practice what you preach. Priyanka Chopra forgot the validity of this adage when at her wedding in December last year in Jodhpur she was seen enjoying a fireworks display.

Suddenly her reputation went up in the sky – at least for a while. Here was an actress who has privately spoken up about noise and smoke pollution caused by fireworks, and there she was enjoying the poison that she had condemned publicly.

A co-star-pal of Ms. Chopra commented, “It was her wedding. She was just having fun, some unthinking fun. I agree she should have been more careful with what she was doing. But it’s okay. No harm done.”

Actress-producer Pooja Bhatt spoke about the need for celebrities with a voice to make sure their private conduct doesn’t contradict their public image.

Here was an actress who has privately spoken up about noise and smoke pollution caused by fireworks, and there she was enjoying the poison that she had condemned publicly. Pixabay

“I can only speak for myself… I have always been the same person in my personal and public space. The world today, and especially most of the youngsters, are two different animals in their personal and public space. There is no room for truth in most of the lives they share with people… ironic since this is a time of social media where apparently you let people see you for what you are and intimately… yet there is zero intimacy.. just carefully manufactured illusions of reality.”

Shabana Azmi, who has constantly voiced her strong opinion on social issues, admits it is imperative that the powerful voices in our society desist from dithering.

“My father Kaifi Azmi was a rare poet who practised what he preached whether it was on women’s empowerment, communal harmony or social justice. But it’s a tough place to bein because celebrities are judged more harshly than others and people are quick to nitpick. I am very informal with close friends and can be quite a maverick but social media is so all-pervasive that what’s fine in an intimate circle becomes public almost immediately. I think one must be mindful but it can’t be stretched to impossible limits.”

Actress Priyanka Chopra. Wikimedia Commons

Industry spokesperson Ashoke Pandit sees an urgent need for celebrities to practice what they preach.

“The celebrity should be educated enough to comment on that particular subject. Once the comment is out in the public domain, the celebrity must abide by it. He has a responsibility towards the society as people follow them. Moreover they should follow what they preach. One should be very careful when one has to comment on sensitive issues.”

Actress-environmentalist Dia Mirza feels an imperative need for actors to maintain an equipoise in their overall conduct.

“I personally believe that if one consciously believes in a value system and has outwardly expressed this, then one would also need to consider the importance of reflecting those very values in their personal choices to the best of their ability.This should hold true for all of us. Whether or not we are in position of power.”